JP2000182188A - Information display device for vehicle and information distribution device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display device for vehicle which automatically and efficiently receives state information on a vehicle and an information distribution device which automatically and efficiently transmits this state information. SOLUTION: An information center performs fault diagnosis based on data of sensor status bits included in a call signal or a vehicle signal transmitted from a vehicle having a specific identification ID (S57) and distributes the diagnosis result and information related a service station in the vicinity of the vehicle to this vehicle together with information whose distribution is essentially requested (S66).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information display device for a vehicle and an information distribution device, for example, an information display device mounted on an automobile, which is a typical vehicle, and an information distribution device for distributing information to the information display device. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a car, which is a typical vehicle, navigation information such as position information of a self-vehicle and route guidance to a destination based on a GPS (global positioning system) signal received from the outside. Navigation systems that can be used are becoming widespread.

[0003] As an application example of such a navigation system, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-103977 discloses a navigation system that not only obtains position information but also obtains Internet information as reception information by wireless communication. A system has been proposed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, in the wireless communication from the navigation unit to the information center, the Internet information such as the sightseeing spots and the information on the state of the vehicle are separately and independently performed. Therefore, an initial cost of communication is generated each time one-way wireless communication occurs, which is not efficient in terms of both communication efficiency and communication cost.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle information display device for automatically and efficiently receiving vehicle status information, and an information distribution device for automatically and efficiently transmitting the status information. I do.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, an information display device for a vehicle according to the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, an information display device for a vehicle including a control means for displaying, on a display, reception information received by wireless communication from the information distribution apparatus, wherein the control means performs wireless communication with the information distribution apparatus. The status information of the vehicle is automatically received or transmitted when the vehicle is present.

Alternatively, there is provided an information display device for a vehicle including a control means for displaying, on a display, reception information received by wireless communication from the information distribution apparatus, wherein the control means comprises a transmission / reception idle of wireless communication with the information distribution apparatus. During the period, the state information of the vehicle is independently received or transmitted.

In any of the above-mentioned vehicle information display devices, the control means sets the same fee for wireless communication with the information distribution device after reception of other information different from the status information is completed. The status information may be received within a period that does not exceed the fee range.

[0010] Further, for example, the state information is information on a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle, and the control means includes:
It is preferable that, when the information regarding the result of the failure diagnosis of the vehicle is received, the information is displayed on the display.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, an information distribution apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, an information distribution device for distributing information to a vehicle information display device by wireless communication, wherein when the received identification information is included in the pre-registered identification information, the predetermined information is transmitted. Communication control means for automatically receiving or transmitting the status information of the vehicle when performing wireless communication with the predetermined information display device for the vehicle information display device. And

[0013] Alternatively, an information distribution device for distributing information to a vehicle information display device by wireless communication, wherein when the received identification information is included in pre-registered identification information, the predetermined information is transmitted. The vehicle information display device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising communication control means for independently receiving or transmitting the state information of the vehicle during a transmission / reception idle period of wireless communication with the predetermined vehicle information display device. .

In any of the above information distribution apparatuses, the status information is, for example, information on a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle, and the communication control means completes transmission of other information different from the status information. The status information may be transmitted later, during a period in which the charge for wireless communication with the predetermined vehicle information display device does not exceed the same fee range.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to an information center and a radio base station as an information distribution device, and an automobile navigation device (unit) as a vehicle information display device.
An embodiment applied to a wireless communication system configured by the above will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, information to be updated / added will be described as map information. However, a system for updating / adding service information relating to an area in the same manner as map information may be configured.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a navigation unit 1 is shown.
The vehicle 100 on which the is mounted receives a GPS signal and the like from the outside, and performs mutual communication with the information center 2 via wireless communication with the wireless base station 21.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the wireless communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a navigation unit 1 is shown.
Are connected to the following units. That is, 11
Is a GPS receiver for receiving GPS signals. 12
Is a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) receiver that receives a VICS (road traffic information communication system) signal. Reference numeral 13 denotes a CD-RO as a storage medium in which map information and local service information (for example, locations of restaurants, telephone numbers, etc.) are stored in advance.
A CD-ROM reader that reads map information and the like from M (may be a DVD-ROM). Reference numeral 14 denotes an operation switch capable of inputting a predetermined operation of the navigation unit 1. Reference numeral 15 denotes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle 100. Reference numeral 16 denotes a gyro sensor used for correcting the traveling state and the position of the vehicle 100. 17 is the vehicle 10
0 is a display for displaying the current position, the route guidance route, and the received information obtained from the information center-2, and a film functioning as the operation switch 14 is provided on the front surface of the display screen. Reference numeral 18 denotes a notification unit such as a buzzer or a speaker that outputs a notification of a state detected by the navigation unit 1 and outputs a sound or the like for route guidance. Reference numeral 19 denotes a wireless device that performs wireless communication with the information center 2 via the wireless base station 21. Reference numeral 20 denotes a group of various sensors such as an engine thermometer and a battery level gauge. The CPU 101 of the navigation unit 1
While using M102 as a work area, ROM
A display / communication control process, which will be described later, is executed in accordance with a program stored in advance in 103. Also, 104
It is a storage device such as a readable / writable storage element (memory) or a hard disk, and includes added / updated map information and its identification information, and a CD-ROM reader 13.
The identification information of the map data which can be read out from the storage device is stored. In the identification information, an identification flag (update enable / disable flag, addition enable / disable flag) for permitting / prohibiting the automatic update / addition described later is set in a predetermined data unit by operating the operation switch 14. be able to.

The information center 2 is provided with a host computer 201 functioning as a server and a database 202 connected to the computer.
From the vehicle 1 via the wireless base station 21
00 to the wireless device 19.

In the present embodiment, the wireless communication between the wireless device 19 and the wireless base station 21 is a wireless public telephone line network such as a so-called mobile phone or PHS as a mobile communication means.
The communication between the radio base station 21 and the information center 2 is
This is a general public telephone line network, and it is assumed that charging is performed for each line at predetermined time intervals.

In the present embodiment, the mutual communication between the navigation unit 1 and the information center 2 is what is called Internet communication via wireless communication, and the navigation unit 1 is based on a general browser program. Information center 2
Functions as a general WWW (World Wide Web) Internet service provider that can be identified by a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

In the following description, a case where the information received from the information center 2 is Internet information will be described as an example. However, the so-called mutual communication of electronic mail information using the information center as a relay center will be described. Good. Alternatively, both the Internet information and the e-mail information may be configured to be communicable.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a communication procedure between the vehicle and the information center according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a communication line with the information center 2 having a specific URL is secured by a predetermined operation of the operation switch 14 of the vehicle 100, the vehicle 100
Transmits a call signal requesting acquisition of Internet information. In the information center 2, a center signal including Internet information corresponding to the information included in the call signal is transmitted. Thereafter, each time a vehicle signal requesting further Internet information is transmitted from the vehicle 100 until a call end operation is detected by a predetermined operation of the operation switch 14, the vehicle 100 responds to the information included in the vehicle signal. A center signal containing Internet information is transmitted.
The vehicle state / update signal is used in the second embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the communication mode between the navigation unit 1 and the information center 2 depends on whether the navigation unit belongs to a predetermined group or not, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 described below. Format or any of the communication formats of FIGS. 6 and 7. In addition, in order to determine whether the navigation unit 1 belongs to a predetermined group, the identification (ID) of the navigation unit 1 is used.
Is determined by checking whether the information center 2 has already registered.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a field configuration of a call signal and a vehicle signal in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a field configuration of a center signal in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure and shows the communication form at the time of the radio | wireless communication between the radio | wireless machine 19 of the navigation unit in which none of the signals belong to a predetermined group, and the radio base station 21.

The call signal and the vehicle signal shown in FIG.
It consists of each field from 01 to 307,
A start bit including a bit indicating the head of the signal and a signal type, a destination address bit including a telephone number and a URL of a connection destination information center 2, an identification of the navigation unit 1 as a transmission source (I
D) A navigation unit (navigation) ID bit including a number and a telephone number of the wireless device (cellular phone) 19 and a URL of an owner of the telephone number, a function bit indicating a type of requested information, and data to be transmitted. Data bit, a parity bit that can be used to determine the validity of the information content of the call signal (vehicle signal), and an end bit indicating the end of the call signal (vehicle signal).

The center signal shown in FIG. 5 has the same field configuration as the call signal (vehicle signal), but the type of information in the field is different. That is, the field 302
Contains the identification (ID) number of the navigation unit 1 that is the transmission destination, the telephone number of the wireless device (mobile phone) 19, and the URL of the owner of the telephone number. The information center (center) ID bit in the field 303 includes the telephone number and URL of the information center 2 of the transmission source. The function bits of the field 304 include the type of information to be transmitted and the like, and the data bits of the field 305 include data to be transmitted to the navigation unit 1, that is, a control code and a character (character) for configuring a screen on the display 17. ) Data, background data, and image data. As a specific configuration example of this data bit, JavaScript
HTML (Hyper Text Markup) using HTML tags
Language) is assumed to be a Web page file.

When the information center 2 to be connected is located far from the current position of the vehicle 100,
Wireless base station 2 whose current position of vehicle 100 is a transmission / reception range
1 is temporarily stored in the information center 2 which is relatively close to 1. Communication between the information center 2 and the information center 2 which desires the connection may be performed in a packet unit, for example, according to a predetermined communication protocol. Detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a field structure of a call signal and a vehicle signal in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a field structure of a center signal in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a communication mode of wireless communication between a wireless device 19 of a navigation unit belonging to a predetermined group and a wireless base station 21 in each case.

The field structure of the call signal and the vehicle signal shown in FIG. 6 is different from the field structure shown in FIG.
Data bits in field 305 and field 306
, A status flag bit in a field 360, a sensor status bit in a field 361, and a map data status / current position bit in a field 362. Here, the status flag bit indicates whether or not the operator of the navigation unit 1 has disabled the map data update / addition function and the vehicle status data reception function by operating the operation switch 14 as described later. Represents The sensor status bits indicate output values of the vehicle speed sensor 15, the gyro sensor 16, and the like, and detection values of the various sensor groups 20. The map data status / current position bit can be read from the CD-ROM reader 13 as well as the added / updated map data and its identification information stored in the storage device 14 (or the RAM 102). The current position information of the vehicle 100 detected based on the identification information of the map information and the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 11 (currently, the display 1 of the navigation unit 1).
7 and the scale of the map data shown in FIG.
(Including information on the traveling direction of the vehicle).

On the other hand, the field configuration of the center signal shown in FIG. 7 is different from the field configuration shown in FIG. 5 in that the vehicle status bit of the field 363 and the vehicle status bit of the field 363 are located between the data bit of the field 305 and the parity bit of the field 306. , An update bit in field 364, and a map data bit in field 365. Here, the vehicle status bit indicates a result of the failure diagnosis in the information center 2, guidance to be displayed on the display 17, and the like. The update bit indicates whether or not the navigation unit 1 has been instructed to update the map data. The map data bits represent map data to be updated and / or added on the navigation unit 1 side.

The fields of the vehicle status bit, the update bit, and the map data bit may be included in the center signal even when there is no substantial information content to be transmitted. From the viewpoint of reducing the communication cost by shortening the communication time, it is preferable that the information center 2 controls to add only when it is necessary to transmit to the vehicle 100 side.

Next, display / communication control processing performed by the navigation unit 1 belonging to a predetermined group and information distribution control processing performed by the information center 2 will be described.

<Control of Navigation Unit 1> FIG.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a display / communication control process performed by the navigation unit 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, steps S1 and S
3: It is determined whether or not the current mode is the navigation mode by detecting the setting state of the operation switch 14 (step S1). If NO (not the navigation mode), for example, air conditioning can be set on the display 17. The screen of the appropriate air conditioning control mode is displayed (step S3), and the process returns.

Step S2: YE is determined in step S1.
In S (in the navigation mode), the GPS signal obtained by the GPS receiver 11, the own vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 15, the running state of the vehicle 100 detected by the gyro sensor 16, and the CD-ROM reader 13
The current position of the vehicle is calculated by a general method based on the map matching using the map information obtained from, and the value is stored in the RAM 102.

Step S4: Map information to be displayed is displayed on the CD-RO based on the display scale currently selected on the display 17 and the current position calculated in step S1.
Read from M reader 13.

Steps S5 and S6: It is determined whether or not the display mode is the route guidance route display mode (step S5).
If NO (not in the route guidance route display mode), for example, an image plane in a destination setting mode in which a destination can be set is displayed (step S6), and the process returns.

Steps S7 to S9: Step S
If the determination in 5 is YES (it is the route guidance route display mode), it is determined whether the predetermined operation of the operation switch 14 has disabled the map data update / addition function and the vehicle state data reception function. Is determined (step S7), and N
When O (not invalid), the status flag FL is set to 1 (step S8), and when YES (invalid), the status flag FL is reset to 0 (step S9).

Step S10: Depending on the operation state of the operation switch 14, it is determined whether or not the Internet (or electronic mail) communication line is being connected and a predetermined operation for the first connection operation from the line disconnection state. It is determined whether or not the operation has been performed. If YES (there is a connection operation), the process proceeds to step S14 in FIG.

Step S11: N in the judgment of step S7
When O (no connection operation), it is determined whether the status flag FL is 1 or not, and when NO (FL = 0), step S
Proceed to 13.

Step S12: If the determination in step S11 is YES (FL = 1), the current control cycle is immediately after the end of communication, and the vehicle status bit is included in the field 363 of the center signal received from the information center 2. It is determined whether or not the vehicle status bit is included, and if so, the information represented by the vehicle status bit is displayed on the display 17.

Step S13: The current position calculated in step S2 and the map information around the current position are displayed on the display 17 at a desired scale as shown in a display pattern A (FIG. 16).

Step S14: If the determination in step S10 of FIG. 9 is YES (there is a connection operation), the navigation screen (simple navigation screen) and the Internet information screen are displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. In FIG. 6B, the information is displayed simultaneously on the display 17 in a predetermined size (details will be described later), and when it is the first connection operation from the line disconnection state, the information center 2 is requested to distribute information. Send a call signal in communication format.

Step S15: It is determined whether or not an operation has been performed on any place name displayed on the navigation screen on the display 17, and if NO (no operation), the process proceeds to step S17.

Step S16: If the determination in step S15 is YES (operation has been performed), a function bit indicating that the Internet information corresponding to the operation is desired in the next reception information, and the place name selected by the operation A vehicle signal (a vehicle signal in the communication format shown in FIG. 6) including a data bit representing data representing the code is transmitted via the wireless device 19 (details will be described later), and step S1
Go to 7.

Step S17: It is determined whether or not the center signal has been received.
Proceed to 19.

Step S18: If the determination in step S17 is YES (received), the function bits and data bits of the received center signal are displayed in the Internet information screen displayed on the display 17 in the display pattern B (field (304, 305), the map data is updated / added as necessary (details will be described later), and the process proceeds to step S19.

Step S19: It is determined whether or not the status flag FL is set to 1, and if NO (FL = 0), the routine returns.

Step S20: If the determination in step S19 is YES (FL = 1), it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous communication completion timing with the information center 2, and the determination is NO (within the predetermined time). Sometimes returns.

Step S21: If the determination in step S19 is YES (predetermined time has elapsed), the information center 2 prompts the information center 2 to transmit the latest detection values of various sensors of the vehicle 100 in order to perform a failure diagnosis or the like. In order to prevent the status information from becoming a regular trend,
A predetermined guidance prompting communication (transmission of a call signal and / or a vehicle signal) to the information center 2 is displayed on the display 17.
And return.

Here, the display 1 is selected in step S14.
The display screen of the display pattern B displayed on 7 will be described.

FIGS. 17 and 18 are diagrams showing a display example (display pattern B) when the Internet connection is made in the first embodiment of the present invention, and display the reception information obtained through the Internet. 2 shows a display screen on which an Internet information screen to be displayed and a simplified navigation screen for displaying a simplified route guidance route are simultaneously displayed. A display process for displaying the simplified navigation screen will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the display processing of the simple navigation screen and the Internet information screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows the details of step S14 in FIG.

In the figure, if the judgment in step S141 is YES (there is a connection operation) in step S10,
The current position calculated in step S2 and the destination set in advance as the route guidance route display mode are stored in the RAM 102.
, And the location names are set to be displayable at the positions indicated as “destination” and “current location” in FIG.

Step S142: The distance between the current position and the destination is calculated based on the map data read from the CD-ROM reader 13 (including the map data currently stored in the storage device 104, and so on).

Step S143: Based on the distance calculated in step S142, a scale position (a scale such as 50 km in FIG. 18) to be displayed at a predetermined distance interval on the route display screen (simple navigation screen) 210 is calculated.

Step S144: The main transit point existing up to the destination is obtained from the map data read from the CD-ROM reader 13, and the symbol representing the transit point should be displayed on the route display screen 210. Is calculated based on the route guidance route information, and the place name of the transit point is set to be displayable next to the display position of the symbol (the position indicated as “transit point” in FIG. 18).

Step S145: The Internet information screen 211 and the route display screen 210 are simultaneously displayed on the display 17 in a predetermined size. At this time, the Internet information screen may display only the display frame without the information content, or may include the information content obtained by the previous communication. Here, as for the display sizes of the Internet information screen 211 and the route display screen 210, the route display screen 210 displays the route guidance path in a simplified manner, and the occupant such as a driver can intuitively determine the current position with respect to the destination. Therefore, the size of the Internet information screen 211, which may include a lot of character information, can be made as large as possible, and the size of the route display screen 210 can be made relatively small.

Next, the transmission processing of the vehicle signal transmitted to the information center 2 in step S16 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the transmission processing of the vehicle signal in the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows the details of step S16 in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 16, when the result of step S161 is YES (operation is performed) in step S15, it is determined whether or not the status flag FL is set to "1".

Step S162: If the determination in step S161 is YES (FL = 1), it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the end timing of the previous communication with the information center 2, and NO (within the predetermined time) If so, the process proceeds to step S164.

Step S163: If the determination in step S162 is YES (the predetermined time has elapsed), the RAM 102
, The latest detection values of the various sensors of the vehicle 100 are read out, and set to be transmittable as sensor status bits (field 361 in FIG. 6) of the vehicle signal.

Step S164: Storage device 14 (RAM
102), the identification information of the added / updated map information, the identification information of the map information readable from the CD-ROM reader 13, and the operation of the navigation unit 1 by the operator. An update enable / disable flag and an add enable / disable flag indicating permission / inhibition of automatic update and automatic addition of map data which are set in advance by operating the switch 14 are read out and set as map data status bits (field 362 in FIG. 6) of the vehicle signal. Set to enable sending. The current position calculated in step S2 is used as the current position bit of the vehicle signal (field 36 in FIG. 6).
Set to be transmittable as 2).

Step S165: The status flag bit is F
A vehicle signal including L = 1 and including the sensor status bit and / or the map data stator / current position bit set in step S163 and / or step S165 is transmitted via the wireless device 19, and the flow proceeds to step S1.
Go to 7.

Step S166: If the determination in step S161 is NO (FL = 0), a vehicle signal in which the status flag bit is set to FL = 0 and which does not include the sensor status bit and the map data stator / current position bit is The transmission is performed via the wireless device 19, and the process proceeds to step S17.

Next, the update / addition processing of map data and the display processing of Internet information in step S18 will be described.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing map data update / addition processing and Internet information display processing in the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows the details of step S18 in FIG.

In the figure, step S181: YES in step S17 (center signal received)
At this time, it is determined whether or not the state flag FL is set to 1. If NO (FL = 0), the map data is not updated or added, and the process proceeds to step S189.

Step S182: If the determination in step S181 is YES (FL = 1), it is determined whether or not the center signal received this time includes a vehicle status bit.
(Not including the vehicle status bit)
Proceed to 86.

Step S183: If the determination in step S182 is YES (including the vehicle state bit), the guidance indicated by the vehicle state bit is displayed on the display 17
To be displayed. As this guidance, for example, according to the result of the failure diagnosis (including the warning) at the information center 2, a display such as "*** is insufficient. . As will be described later, when the vehicle status bit includes data on the service factory, “**** service factory is ***
There is in *. And the like, and the position of the service factory may be displayed on the route display screen 210 or the general route guidance screen shown in FIG.

Step S184: It is determined whether or not an operation to inhibit the future display of the guidance displayed in step S183 has been performed by operating the operation switch 14.
When the result is O (no prohibition operation), the process proceeds to step S186.

Step S185: If the determination in step S185 is YES (there is a prohibition operation), the display of the guidance is stopped and a flag indicating the prohibition of the subsequent display is set in the RAM 102.

Step S186: It is determined whether or not the center signal received this time contains an update bit. If NO (the update bit is not included), the flow advances to step S189.

Step S187: If the determination in step S186 is YES (including the update bit), the map data bit data is updated / added to the storage device 104.

Step S188: The updated and added map data is identifiably notified to the driver or other occupant by voice by the notification unit 18 or displayed on the display 17, and the process proceeds to step S189.

Step S189: The information content corresponding to the function bits and data bits of the center signal received this time is displayed on the Internet information screen 211 of the display pattern B.

<Control of Information Center 2> FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an information distribution control process performed by the information center 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which is executed by a CPU (not shown) of the host computer 201. Indicates processing.

In the figure, step S51: It is determined whether a call signal or a vehicle signal has been received, and if NO (no reception), the process returns.

Step S52: If the determination in step S51 is YES (received), the ID information of the navigation unit 1 represented by the navigation ID bit of the received call signal or vehicle signal is registered in the predetermined group in the database 202 in advance. It is determined whether or not it belongs to.

Step S53: When the determination in step S52 is NO (not belonging to the group), the remaining time for transmitting the vehicle signal including the information requested to be distributed within the range of the current charging fee band is obtained. It is determined whether or not there is, and if NO (there is no remaining time), the process proceeds to step S55 because it is left to the user of the navigation unit 1 to continue the communication after that.

Step S54: If the determination in step S53 is YES (there is time remaining), a call end invalid signal is transmitted to the radio base station 21. Here, the end-of-call invalid signal indicates that even if the end-of-call operation is performed on the side of the vehicle 100 (the mobile phone as the radio device 19), the prohibition of the line disconnection is prohibited by the radio base station 21 and / or the information center 2 and the radio base station. 21 is a signal for instructing a base station (not shown) that controls the public line network.

Here, the processing of steps S53 to S54 will be described with reference to FIG. 14. In the information center 2, it has been determined that the information to be transmitted can be transmitted within the remaining time of the same fee band. In some cases, as shown in FIG. 14, even if a call end operation is performed on the vehicle side, the generation of a new communication cost can be prevented by prohibiting the disconnection of the line.

Step S55: The center signal including the information requested to be distributed by the vehicle 100 is transmitted to the radio base station 2.
1 to the navigation unit 1 and return. That is, when the currently received call signal or vehicle signal has the field configuration shown in FIG. 4, it is a center signal having the field configuration shown in FIG. A center signal including information content corresponding to the function bits and the data bits of the signal or the vehicle signal is transmitted. Also,
When the received call signal or vehicle signal has the field configuration shown in FIG. 6, it is a center signal having the field configuration shown in FIG. 7, and the received call signal or data bit is added to the function bits and data bits of the signal. A center signal including information contents corresponding to the function bit and the data bit of the vehicle signal and excluding the vehicle status bit, the update bit, and the map data bit is transmitted.

Here, the information center 2 starts transmitting with the knowledge that the transmission of the vehicle signal to be transmitted cannot be completed within the remaining time, but the user of the vehicle 100 basically makes the request. The call termination operation should not be performed until the information is displayed on the display 17, or the call termination operation should be performed when the information is no longer needed, so that convenience is not impaired.

Step S56: If the determination in step S52 is YES (belongs to the group), the call signal or the vehicle signal received this time has the field configuration of FIG. 6, so that the state flag bit FL included in the signal is set to 1 It is determined whether or not it is set, and NO (FL =
In the case of 0), the process proceeds to step S53.

Steps S57 and S58: If the determination in step S56 is YES (FL = 1), the current state of the vehicle 100 (vehicle state) based on the sensor status bit data of the call signal or the vehicle signal.
In step S57, a failure diagnosis and a warning judgment are performed for a predetermined item.

Steps S59 and S60: Based on the data of the map data status bit of the call signal or the vehicle signal, the vehicle 100 checks the version (status) of currently available map data (step S59) and updates it. It is determined whether or not there is map data to be transmitted by the center signal to be transmitted as these map data to be added (step S60). If there is no map data to be transmitted (NO), the process proceeds to step S53, If there is (YES), the process proceeds to step S63.

Steps S61 and S62: The service factory near the current position of the vehicle 100 represented by the current position bit is referred to by referring to the database 202 based on the data of the current position bit of the call signal or the vehicle signal. A search is performed (step S61), and the failure diagnosis result in step S57 (including the result of the warning determination)
And the data representing the search result of step S61 are included in the vehicle state bit of the center signal to be transmitted this time so as to enable transmission.

Step S63: When there are a plurality of data to be transmitted, the priority order is determined. The priorities include, for example, map data near the current position, map data on a detailed scale, map data currently displayed on the display 17 of the navigation unit 1, map data in the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, and the map data used on the current vehicle 100 side. The ranking of the latest map data or the like corresponding to the oldest possible map data may be set in advance.

Step S64: The center signal including the information requested to be distributed on the vehicle 100 side and the map data and / or vehicle state data to be transmitted is transmitted to the step S64.
In the order of the data having the highest ranking determined in 63, it is determined whether there is remaining time available for transmission within the range of the current billing rate band.
The determination is made in the same manner as in step S53 described above, and NO
In the case of (no remaining time), the process proceeds to step S66 in order to leave the communication to be continued to the user of the navigation unit 1 after that.

Step S65: If the determination in step S64 is YES (there is time remaining), a call end invalid signal is transmitted to the radio base station 21.

Step S66: Navigation of the center signal including the information requested to be distributed by the vehicle 100 and the map data and / or vehicle state data having a high priority and which can be transmitted via the radio base station 21. Send to unit 1 and return. That is, it is a center signal having the field configuration shown in FIG. 7, and the function bits and data bits of the signal include information contents corresponding to the function bits and data bits of the received call signal or vehicle signal, and step S62. When the map data is set in step S59 and / or the vehicle status bit set in step S59, a center signal including the map data bit and the update bit is transmitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the information center 2 receives the call signal or the vehicle signal from the vehicle 100, the information center 2 transmits the Internet information corresponding to the signal by the center signal. In the center signal to be transmitted,
Since it is possible to automatically include the map data that needs to be added and / or the information related to the fault diagnosis and automatically transmit the information, communication that occurs only to transmit only the map data and the information related to the fault diagnosis occurs. , Communication costs can be reduced. Further, the information center 2 determines the priority of data to be transmitted, and when it is determined that the information to be transmitted can be transmitted within the remaining time of the same toll band, even if the call end operation is performed on the vehicle side. By prohibiting the disconnection of the line, it is possible to prevent a new communication cost from being generated.

Further, the Internet information as the reception information and the route guidance route as the navigation information are shown in FIG.
Also, as in the display example shown in FIG. 18, the display is simultaneously displayed on the display 17, and the display of the route guidance route is also actively updated in each control cycle, so that the convenience can be improved. In particular, since the route guidance path can be displayed in a simplified manner as shown in FIG. 18, even if the display size is small, the driver or the like can intuitively grasp the current position of the vehicle with respect to the destination. Can be. Therefore, the size of the Internet information screen can be set large, so that the displayed Internet information can be easily read.

In this embodiment, when the Internet information and the route guidance route are displayed, the name of the place on the route guidance route is selected by the operation switch 14 so that the Internet information relating to the place name can be obtained from the information center 2. Since it can be obtained more and can be displayed on the display 17, the convenience can be further improved.

<Modification of First Embodiment> (Modification 1) In the information distribution control process of FIG.
Each time a call signal or vehicle signal is received, the sensor status bits are determined to determine whether or not updating is necessary.However, to further reduce communication costs, the first information distribution from the line disconnection state is performed. To transmit map data and / or vehicle status data to be updated / added only when
In the determination of step S52, it is further determined whether or not the received signal is a call signal, and if YES (the received signal is a call signal and the ID belongs to the group)
Only at this time, the processing after step S56 may be performed.

(Modification 2) In the first embodiment described above, the priority order of map data to be updated / added is determined in the information center 2, and the map data is automatically transmitted from the relationship between the order and the remaining communication time. Should be sending map data.
In this modification, instead of determining map data to be transmitted in the information center 2, step S60 in FIG.
When it is determined that there is map data to be transmitted in step S66, instead of transmitting the map data itself in step S66,
A center signal including, for example, data bits that can identify the information content represented by the map data is transmitted. Then, upon receiving the center signal including the item data, the navigation unit 1 executes step S in FIG.
At 18, items relating to map data that can be obtained by the center signal received next time are displayed on the display 17 so as to be selectable by operating the operation switch 14. Then, the navigation unit 1 may transmit a vehicle signal including data representing the selected item in a data bit or the like at the next transmission of the vehicle signal. According to this modification, for example, when searching for an up-to-date restaurant or the like that is not registered in currently available map data in an unfamiliar place, the operator himself / herself can quickly save the map data including the target service information. Can be obtained efficiently.

[Second Embodiment] In the present embodiment, based on the configuration in the first embodiment described above, the update / update
The map data and / or vehicle state data to be added are not transmitted by the center signal, but are transmitted alone by the vehicle state / update signal shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the description of the same configuration as that of the above-described first embodiment will be omitted, and the description will be focused on the characteristic portions of the present modified example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a field configuration of a vehicle status / update signal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The difference from the center signal described above is that the field 304
And a parity bit of the field 306, a vehicle status bit of the field 366, a vehicle status bit of the field 367, and a map data bit of the field 368.

<Control of Navigation Unit 1> FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing an excerpt of a display / communication control process performed by the navigation unit 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

9 differs from the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10 of the first embodiment in that the process of step S31 is performed when the determination in step S17 is NO (the center signal was not received). .

In step S31, it is determined whether a vehicle state / update signal has been received. If YES (received), the process proceeds to step S181; if NO (not received), the process proceeds to step S19.

<Control of Information Center 2> FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an excerpt of an information distribution control process performed by the information center 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The processing after step S64 is different from the flowchart of FIG.

That is, step S71: Once the priority is determined in step S63, it is determined whether or not the current timing is a transmission / reception blank period, and if NO (during signal transmission or reception), the process returns. Here, the transmission / reception blank period is a timing when a signal is not transmitted or received between the navigation unit 1 and the information center 2 (a period indicated by BL in FIG. 14). It is assumed that a search is being performed, a driver or the like is performing a setting operation on the operation switch 14, and the like.

Step S72: If the determination in step S71 is YES (transmission / reception blank period), a vehicle state / update signal including map data and / or vehicle state data to be updated / added is navigated via the radio base station 21. Send to unit 1 and return.

According to the above-described embodiment, the communication efficiency can be improved, so that the communication for transmitting only the map data and the information relating to the fault diagnosis can be prevented from occurring, and the communication cost can be reduced. Can be suppressed.

In the second embodiment, the map data and the vehicle state data are transmitted independently by the vehicle state / update signal. However, as in the first embodiment, these data are included in the vehicle signal. The transmission may be performed in combination with the transmission based on the vehicle state / update signal.

[0112]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a vehicle information display device that automatically and efficiently receives vehicle state information, and an information distribution device that automatically and efficiently transmits the state information.

That is, according to the first and eleventh aspects of the present invention, the vehicle status information can be used alone or the reception information (delivery information) different from the vehicle status information without causing the occupant to perform a troublesome operation. In addition, transmission and reception can be performed automatically and efficiently.

According to the second and twelfth aspects of the present invention, since the state information of the vehicle is transmitted and received independently during the transmission / reception idle period of the wireless communication, a communication cost is incurred only for the communication of the state information. Communication can be performed at low cost and without any trouble.

Further, according to the third and thirteenth aspects of the present invention, low-cost and efficient communication can be performed without incurring a communication cost solely for communication of vehicle state information.

Further, claim 4, claim 5, and claim 1
According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the driver can be notified of the need for maintenance of the vehicle at an early stage, and the fail-safe property can be improved.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to prevent communication data from increasing more than necessary.

Further, according to the inventions of claim 7 and claim 16, even when urgent maintenance is required, for example, when traveling in an unfamiliar area, a nearby service factory can be used. You can easily go.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8, the automatic transmission / reception function of the state information can be turned on / off according to the occupant's intention.

Further, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the convenience from being reduced due to the unnecessary display.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the information distribution apparatus from not being able to take a regular trend of vehicle state information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a wireless communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a communication procedure between the vehicle and the information center according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a call signal and a vehicle signal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a center signal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a call signal and a vehicle signal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a center signal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a field configuration of a vehicle state / update signal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a display / communication control process performed by the navigation unit 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a display / communication control process performed by the navigation unit 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing display processing of a simple navigation screen and an Internet information screen as the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a vehicle signal transmission process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing map data update / addition processing and Internet information display processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a communication sequence according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an information distribution control process performed by the information center 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example (display pattern A) of a route guidance route when an Internet connection is not established in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example (display pattern B) when an Internet connection is made in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a display example (display pattern B) when an Internet connection is established in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an excerpt of a display / communication control process performed by the navigation unit 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an excerpt of an information distribution control process performed by the information center 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: navigation unit, 2: information center, 11: GPS receiver, 12: VICS receiver, 13: CD-ROM reader, 14: operation switch, 15: vehicle speed sensor, 16: gyro sensor, 17: display, 18: Notification unit, 19: wireless device, 20: various sensor groups, 21: wireless base station, 100: vehicle, 101: CPU, 102: RAM, 103: ROM, 104: storage device, 201: host computer, 202: database,

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AB09 AB13 AC02 AC04 AC08 AC13 AC14 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB05 BB13 BB18 FF04 FF05 FF13 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF32 FF40

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An information display device for a vehicle, comprising: control means for displaying, on a display, received information received from an information distribution apparatus by wireless communication, wherein the control means performs wireless communication with the information distribution apparatus. A vehicle information display device for automatically receiving or transmitting the state information of the vehicle when the vehicle is in the vehicle. 2. An information display device for a vehicle, comprising: control means for displaying, on a display, reception information received from an information distribution apparatus by wireless communication, wherein the control means includes a transmission / reception idle of wireless communication with the information distribution apparatus. An information display device for a vehicle, wherein the status information of the vehicle is independently received or transmitted during a period. 3. The control unit, after the reception of other information different from the status information is completed, and within a period in which charging for wireless communication with the information distribution device does not exceed the same fee band, 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the status information is received.
Or the information display device for vehicles according to claim 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state information is information on a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle, and the control unit displays the information on the display when receiving the information on the failure diagnosis result of the vehicle. The vehicle information display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits a request signal including current detection information regarding the vehicle to the information distribution device, thereby receiving information regarding a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle. 4. The vehicle information display device according to 4. 6. The vehicle information display according to claim 5, wherein the control unit prohibits the transmission of the request signal when a predetermined time has not elapsed after transmitting the request signal. apparatus. 7. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, wherein the control means transmits the current position of the vehicle detected by the detecting means to the information distributing device, thereby detecting the current position around the current position of the vehicle. 5. The information display device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the information on the service factory to be received is received. 8. The vehicle information display device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit includes a prohibition unit that can prohibit transmission or reception of the vehicle status information. 9. The control means, when displaying information on a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle on the display,
5. The vehicle information display device according to claim 4, further comprising a prohibition unit capable of prohibiting the display of the information in the future. 10. The control means, when wireless communication with the information distribution device is not performed even after a lapse of a predetermined time,
3. The vehicle information display device according to claim 1, further comprising a prompting unit that prompts the information distribution device to perform wireless communication. 11. An information distribution device for distributing information to a vehicle information display device by wireless communication, wherein when the received identification information is included in pre-registered identification information, the predetermined information is transmitted. A communication control unit that automatically receives or transmits the state information of the vehicle when performing wireless communication with the predetermined vehicle information display device. Information distribution device. 12. An information distribution device for distributing information to a vehicle information display device by wireless communication, wherein when the received identification information is included in pre-registered identification information, the predetermined information transmitted is transmitted. The vehicle information display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a communication control unit configured to independently receive or transmit the state information of the vehicle during a transmission / reception idle period of wireless communication with the predetermined vehicle information display device. Information distribution device. 13. The communication control means, after the transmission of the other information different from the status information is completed, wherein the charge of the wireless communication with the predetermined vehicle information display device exceeds the same toll band. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the state information is transmitted within a non-existent period. 14. The information distribution apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the status information is information relating to a failure diagnosis result of the vehicle. 15. When a request signal including current detection information on the vehicle is received from the predetermined vehicle information display device, the communication control unit performs a failure diagnosis on the vehicle based on the received information. 15. The information distribution device according to claim 14, further comprising a failure diagnosis unit, wherein the communication control unit transmits information on a failure diagnosis result by the failure diagnosis unit to the predetermined vehicle information display device. . 16. The communication control means, when reception information received from the predetermined vehicle information display device includes a current vehicle position, transmits information on a service factory existing around the current vehicle position. The information distribution device according to claim 14, wherein: